How the Knicks made Victor Wembanyama's NBA Finals debut one to forget

The Knicks brought “The Alien” back down to Earth.

Karl-Anthony Towns and Mitchell Robinson hounded Victor Wembanyama defensively.

Jalen Brunson attacked the paint whenever Wembanyama was out of the game.

And the Knicks made Wembanyama work for absolutely everything, mitigating the 7-4 superstar’s impact in Wednesday night’s 105-95 win over the San Antonio Spurs in Game 1 of the NBA Finals.

“I was bad tonight,” Wembanyama said afterward at the Frost Bank Center. “It’s not more complicated than that.”

It was an NBA Finals debut to forget for Wembanyama, who scored 26 points with 12 rebounds and three blocks but shot just 6 of 21 from the field and committed six turnovers.

The Knicks went into Game 1 with the goal of getting Wembanyama away from the basket, knowing the 22-year-old center is the NBA’s best shot-blocker on defense and a similarly dominant lob threat on offense.

OG Anunoby — who, at 6-7 and 240 pounds, is the Knicks’ top defender — spent considerable time matched up with Wembanyama during the season.

But in a bit of a twist, the Knicks opted to deploy the 7-foot Towns on Wembanyama on Wednesday night, betting on their All-Star center to avoid foul trouble and to use his size and physicality to disrupt the French sensation.

Towns was up for the challenge, repeatedly meeting the taller-but-slighter Wembanyama near midcourt and staying in front of him.

Against the high-motor Towns, Wembanyama struggled to get to his spots, including the elbow, where he loves to operate. His first six shot attempts were all jumpers of some variety.

Wembanyama shot just 2 of 11 from the field when guarded by Towns, according to the NBA’s head-to-head tracking data.

“Just try to make it difficult,” Towns said. “He’s an amazing player, one-of-a-kind player in this NBA that the league has ever seen, and you just try to make it as difficult as possible.”

Robinson also provided quality minutes against Wembanyama, who shot 2 of 5 when defended by the Knicks’ backup center (and best rim-protector).

The gameplan forced Wembanyama to put the ball on the floor, and the Knicks’ help defenders took advantage, as Mikal Bridges, Jose Alvarado and Josh Hart all came away with steals while Wembanyama was dribbling.

“Every team guards differently,” Wembanyama said. “I’m going to figure it out.”

Wembanyama rarely posted up against the bulkier Towns or Robinson, causing him to settle for outside shots. He finished 2 of 9 on 3-pointers — a scenario the Knicks will gladly accept.

The Spurs attempted only four alley-oop passes to Wembanyama, and each resulted in a Knicks foul. But only the last of those lobs resulted in points, as Wembanyama shot a pair of free throws that put the Spurs up, 95-94, with 2:16 remaining.

Those were San Antonio’s final points of the game.

“We’ve got to get him moving in space and toward the rim, whether that’s on rolls or running in transition,” Spurs head coach Mitch Johnson said.

“But we need the pressure on the rim and the force in the paint. They did a good job of, obviously, being physical and showing crowds. We need to do a better job of establishing that early on.”

On the other end, Wembanyama, the unanimous NBA Defensive Player of the Year, opened the game guarding Towns — another surprise, considering Wembanyama is at his best in the “rover” role when he can roam the baseline and protect the paint.

Teams including the Spurs have often used smaller defenders on Towns. But Towns has taken advantage when he’s faced shorter defenders in these playoffs, ramping up his usage as a distributor with an ability to survey the court from the high post.

Because of that, Wembanyama applied pressure to Towns, meeting him at the 3-point line, where Towns is an excellent shooter.

Towns combated that early, as his first three baskets came on drives past Wembanyama.

“We are trying to keep it as simple for our guys as possible,” Knicks head coach Mike Brown said. “And they have to take advantage of where Wemby is because he’s just so impactful defensively.”

Indeed, Wembanyama still wreaked havoc on defense, particularly as he returned to the rover role and gave Hart space on the perimeter, challenging him to shoot.

In the paint, Wembanyama repeatedly altered shots and redirected drives, and he was a big part of why Brunson began just 1 of 8 from the field.

Wembanyama’s rim protection was particularly potent early in the third quarter as the Spurs opened up a 14-point lead.

Compounding the issue was that the Knicks shot just 8 of 30 on 3-pointers through three quarters.

But the Knicks found ways to pick their spots.

During a four-minute, 26-second stretch when Wembanyama rested in the second quarter, Brunson scored four driving baskets, facing far less resistance from Spurs backup center Luke Kornet.

It was the same deal when Wembanyama went to the bench for 45 seconds in the fourth quarter, as Brunson scored four more points — a basket and two free throws — as a result of drives.

And the Knicks turned 10 offensive rebounds into 23 second-chance points, including a pair of baskets on which the roving Wembanyama had left the paint to close out on a 3-point shooter.

The Knicks finished with 50 points in the paint.

“The offensive rebounds crushed us,” Johnson said.

Even with his off game, Wembanyama — the third-place finisher for NBA MVP — nearly willed the Spurs to a win. He scored seven points during a 9-0 run that gave San Antonio its one-point lead with 2:16 to go.

But Wembanyama missed four of his last five shots, including a wild layup that was well-contested by Towns and a 3-pointer off the backboard on the same possession.

“It’s almost like I have to play normal, not even good,” Wembanyama said. “It’s just, like, doing the right things is enough. When we play bad, when I play bad, is when we shoot ourselves in the foot. This is why I’m not worried. We’re going to be so much better. I’m going to be so much better.”